It’s been said that I have a voice for silent movies. It must be true because, somehow, my friends always “forget” to invite me to karaoke night.
In the last couple months, though, karaoke night has been forgone in lieu of remote hangouts through platforms like Zoom. Suddenly, all my friends are curious about expanding their mobile skillsets and adopting new technologies to stay in touch with one another. While their enthusiasm over it sings right into my inner being, I’ve promised to only speak on the matters – no musical vocals allowed.
I’ll keep my word on that promise here, too.
As my friends experiment with the best technology “fits” for communicating with their loved ones, it reminded me of my government friends. Whether servicing constituents at the DMV, collaborating on DOT projects or piloting communities through this pandemic at a public health agency, government personnel have also always been on the hunt for best fits when communicating with constituents, communities and their own colleagues, many of whom are onsite or on-the-go.
The problem of communicating and collaborating with one another has existed as long as paper documents and drawings, clipboards and file cabinets. But regularly seeing one another, or welcoming constituents into offices, has always been the norm, and so streamlined, digital communication wasn’t completely necessary. Nice to have – yes. Convenient – most definitely. But necessary? Not entirely.
The historical way of doing things wasn’t so blatantly broke, so no one saw a need to fix it.
But with a “new normal” on the horizon, walking into a tightly confined DMV may no longer be the norm. Handling CAD drawings that have been passed around to several people may not be safe – it definitely won’t comply with social distancing standards. And public health agencies will need the most robust capabilities for continuous testing and data collection, staying ahead of the curve and establishing and enforcing best practices for their communities.
The only way to safely sustain satisfactory customer service and clear communication among other government colleagues will be from remote distances, facilitated by mobile technology. Being pushed into earlier-than-expected adoption of digitalized records management, electronic forms and, overall, end-to-end digital workflows is overwhelming – I get that. This is especially true if none of that was on your radar pre-COVID crisis. But trust me when I say that being nudged into this “new normal” of increased mobility will be transformational in every way. Sensitive, constituent data will be safeguarded in a secure, permissions-based environment. The “ways of doing things” will be built into rules-based workflows instead of just stashed away in personnel’s minds. Getting the right paperwork into the right hands on time is just one click away. Notifications keep your staff up-to-date and informed on the latest project updates. Complete audit trails increase process visibility, catch bottlenecks early on and elevate transparency to new heights. Not to mention that, being equipped with these capabilities and more only strengthens all your compliance efforts.
So as you plan to solidify permanent, more sustainable mobile practices, I hope you will consider the potential of transforming your entire business continuity plan instead of just temporarily “making do.” My goal for you is that, regardless of pandemics, social distancing, shut downs, or other uncertainties, you will be prepared to continue providing the highest level of service to your constituents and colleagues alike.
After all, we may be singing the chorus “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police a little more often.
Stay well, everyone.
James
The Evolution of the Workplace
When September 11, 2001 occurred and all flights were grounded, it caused the banking world, still dependent on flying checks around the country to settle accounts, an ulcer. Of course, there had been some prior discussions in regard to sending electronic images, but this fateful day expedited those talks into actions, changing everything. Regulations and electronic banking standards were quickly adopted as technology providers introduced innovative features that eliminated the need to move hundreds of millions of paper checks per day.
Read the blog post
The CIO’s Worst Nightmare. And Something About Dilbert.
From car companies and soda vendors to even Dilbert comics, everyone is talking about digital transformation. But how do we define it in the government context?Join Senior Government Consultant Kevin Albrecht and former CIO Paul Gorman as they chat about “the CIO’s worst nightmare,” the importance of dynamic, responsive forms management and how it all shapes an experience from staff to constituent.
Listen to the podcast
“Flexible Tech Helps Cowlitz County, Wash., Respond to COVID-19”
In this recent read published by GovTech.com, officials from Cowlitz County, Wash. illustrate how their digital content management tools supported the county’s socially distant response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic, standing up solutions among various areas of concern. In the article, Elaine Placido, administrator of the county’s Building and Planning, and Health and Human Services departments, said that, “A process that took 10 hours on Monday was taken down to maybe an hour’s worth of work on Wednesday.”
Cowlitz County’s success included:
- The staff’s ability to continue working on and sharing permits
- The centralized information repository that made for easy communication among both departments and agencies
- Incident Management reporting to the public
- Updated and accessible forms
- Freeing up the 9-1-1 lines for true emergencies
What Can We Do For You?
ImageSoft has been bringing affordable, adaptable enterprise content management systems to state and local governments for quite some time. Our industry-leading solutions for government offer automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance.
ImageSoft is ready to help your organization reap the benefits from integrated enterprise content management.